Philippa Kaur

Abstract

Many species are composed of two or more genetically distinct clades, indicating ongoing or past evolutionary divergence. Often however, there are no obvious morphological differences between clades, making it difficult to accurately assess specific aspects of biodiversity or to enact targeted conservation efforts. New advancements in artificial intelligence tools can be used to categorise individuals into their respective genetic clades and to highlight their distinguishing morphological characters that would otherwise be hidden from human observers. Here, we applied computer vision and explainable artificial intelligence techniques to four limpet species that display well-defined phylogeographic breaks along the Baja California and California coasts. A fine-tuned convolutional network, trained and evaluated over 100 resampling iterations, classified individuals into their genetic clades with median F1-scores of up to 0.96. F1-score performance was markedly higher for true clade groups than the controlled mixed-groups, confirming the presence of features specific to the clades. Saliency maps consistently emphasised structures such as the keyhole in Fissurella volcano and the ridge tips in Lottia conus as distinguishing features, and subsequent shape analyses confirmed significant divergence between clades. These results demonstrate the power of computer vision and explainable artificial intelligence to expose otherwise cryptic morphological diversity and provide a scalable, reproducible workflow that can broaden the biodiversity toolkit and refine eco-evolutionary research across taxa.

Data availability

Data for this project is available at:https://github.com/JackDanHollister/chapter_3-_genes_shells_and_AI_data.
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Jack D. Hollister.Ethics declarations

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Ethics
The animal study was reviewed and approved by Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body – ERGO II 63575. The permit to collect the field samples was provided by the Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación (SAGARPA, Permiso de Pesca de Fomento No. PPF/DGOPA-291/17 and PPF/DGOPA-010/19).

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Reprints and permissionsAbout this articleCite this articleHollister, J.D., Paz-García, D.A., Beas-Luna, R. et al. Genes, shells, and AI: using computer vision to detect cryptic morphological divergence between genetically distinct populations of limpets.
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A tropical forest meets the Atlantic Ocean at the Amazon Delta.Credit: NASA/AlamyAs the world gathered in Belém, Brazil, for the COP30 United Nations climate conference, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reignited an old but urgent debate: whether the multilateral process that has sustained climate diplomacy for three decades is still fit for purpose. His proposal for a global climate council — a smaller, more agile entity to lead negotiations and ensure that climate commitments are implemented — reflects mounting frustration with the slow pace of outcomes from the annual Conference of the Parties (COP).How to fight climate change without the US: a guide to global actionLula’s proposal deserves serious consideration. The COP process has become sprawling, performative and, at times, politically paralysed. Yet, as someone who helped to draft the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1991–92, I think that the answer is not to abandon this architecture, but to reform it.When we negotiated the UNFCCC, our goal was to create a durable legal scaffold that was flexible enough to evolve with scientific understanding and national capacities for climate action. In 1992, there was no precedent for a framework that addressed an issue that spanned every economy, ecosystem and generation of people. We had the science, but not yet the institutions or political will to act at scale. The framework-convention model allowed successive protocols, decisions and mechanisms to develop.That design has proven remarkably resilient. If someone had told me in 1992 that the world would still be negotiating climate action at COP30, I might have sighed. Yet, if they had told me that every nation would still be adhering to the same framework, guided by science and law, I would have been profoundly hopeful — as I am today.Climate diplomacy is slow because it is systemic. It forces nations to reconcile competing imperatives — development versus decarbonization, growth versus justice, and responsibility versus capability. The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities was born from these tensions: recognition that all countries share the problem but not the same level of blame or means to act.‘Almost utopian’: how protecting the environment is boosting the economy in BrazilProgress has been incremental but cumulative. The UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol and Paris agreement have created a coherent legal architecture for climate governance. The International Court of Justice delivered an advisory opinion in July, reaffirming that states have binding obligations to protect the climate, an indication of how far we’ve come.Criticism of the COP process is understandable. Yearly gatherings of tens of thousands of people can seem detached from the crisis outside the conference halls. But dismissing COPs ignores their ability to provide universality, legitimacy and accountability. President Lula’s call for a leaner climate council acknowledges this frustration while maintaining the inclusivity of the COP process.

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COP30 left many countries disappointed because no new road maps were created to help nations transition away from fossil fuels.Credit: Wagner Meier/GettyTen years after the Paris agreement was adopted, world leaders left the United Nations COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, with an outcome that kept the process alive but does little to stave off the perils of global warming. Many scientists walked away dismayed and disappointed.Despite years of commitments and research that have laid the groundwork for action, the climate summit of achieved “essentially nothing”, says Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.But, there were some signs of hope that multilateralism can tackle climate change. Over the course of two weeks, representatives from nearly 200 governments worked through hot days, long nights, a fire in the venue and numerous protests — including by Indigenous groups and others fighting for the protection of the Amazon and other tropical forests.Heatwaves linked to emissions of individual fossil-fuel and cement producersIn the end, governments agreed to a package of measures that pushes forward discussions on financial aid and a new ‘just transition’ mechanism designed to ensure a fair and equitable shift from fossil fuels to clean energy. A glaring omission was language calling for the creation of road maps to phase out fossil fuels and halt deforestation, but Brazil has announced it will push those ideas forward independently of the COP process.Here, Nature takes a look at the results from COP30 and what comes next.Sidestepping fossil fuelsThe summit failed to deliver major new pledges to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. Out of the 194 entities and countries that sent representatives to COP30, roughly 80 didn’t submit new commitments for 2035, as required under the accord, and the rest submitted weak pledges that are unlikely to alter global trajectory. As a result, scientists with the Climate Action Tracker consortium still project that the world is on track for upwards of 2.6 ° C of warming by 2100.“The new commitments don’t even move the needle,” says Niklas Höhne, a climate-policy researcher at the NewClimate Institute, an environmental think tank based in Berlin. “It’s really a sign that countries have limited appetite to support something more ambitious on climate.”Fossil fuels took centre stage briefly. More than 80 countries joined Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the call for the creation of a road map to phase out fossil fuels, but the proposal ultimately foundered after reported opposition from oil-producing nations including Saudi Arabia and others.But the idea isn’t dead yet. Brazil promised to push forwards with it independently of the COP process, while the governments of Colombia and the Netherlands announced that they would host the first global conference on the just transition away from fossil fuels in April next year.Protesters carrying signs that read “our forests are not for sale” broke through security lines of the COP30 climate talks on 12 November.Credit: Pablo Porciuncula/AFP via GettyFinancing climate actionOne of the largest disputes at the summit was who should pay for climate action and help developing nations to prepare for and adapt to the unavoidable impacts of global warming. Progress was made: wealthier nations committed to tripling the amount of money they provide to help low-income countries tackle global warming — to US$300 billion annually by 2035. The agreement also carries forward a broader goal of boosting the total to $1.3 trillion annually from all sources, including private investments.But questions remain about how this will be financed. Previous deals on climate action have been plagued by delays in achieving financial goals as well as by disagreements about how much money should come from publicly funded grants, as opposed to loans and private investments.China pledges to cut emissions by 2035: what does that mean for the climate?The final deal at COP30 lays out a process to clarify these issues over the next two years. It’s a step towards ensuring that wealthy countries meet their responsibilities to provide climate finance to those in need, says Jodi-Ann Wang, who researches equity and climate finance at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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As Brazil hosts the United Nations climate summit COP30 in Belém, its government is taking steps to boost the economy without damaging the environment. The goal sounds almost utopian: by 2050, Brazil aims to double income per capita, slash emissions of every greenhouse gas to attain ‘net zero’, and distribute wealth more fairly to achieve a 20% reduction in the Gini index — a metric that reflects income inequality.There has already been substantial progress. For example, deforestation has substantially decreased since the start of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s latest term in 2023, and is now at its lowest rate for 11 years (see go.nature.com/442bqtp). As a member of the team in charge of the Ecological Transformation Plan at Brazil’s Ministry of Finance, I hope that our early successes will encourage other nations to proceed in a similar direction.For real climate action, empower womenTwo initiatives, in particular, could fundamentally reshape global climate finance — the funding systems that support climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. The first is the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), a fund ran by participating nations, with support from the World Bank, to help low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to preserve their tropical forests. The fund aims to reach US$125 billion in the coming years. An initial investment of $25 billion should come from nations and philanthropic organizations. Brazil has pledged to invest the first $1 billion, and other countries, including Norway, Indonesia, France and Germany, have announced substantial contributions. Another $100 billion is expected to come from capital markets, through the issuing of bonds that pay interest at the market rate.The fund is made up of investments rather than donations — the distinction matters. Experience shows that aid flows are volatile and are subject to political winds and fiscal constraints in donor countries. The TFFF breaks this cycle. Here’s how it works: sponsors invest in the fund and receive annual returns that are comparable with those from low-risk sovereign bonds, at, say, 4%. The fund deploys this capital in a diversified portfolio of fixed-income assets, mainly bonds from emerging markets, with an expected yield of 7–8% (historically, a representative portfolio of diversified emerging-market bonds has paid out at around that rate). This portfolio excludes investments that finance fossil fuels or activities linked to deforestation.When mature, this mechanism could generate nearly $4 billion annually for forest conservation — rewarding ecosystem services and paying for anti-deforestation enforcement and capacity-building to foster the bioeconomy, such as biotechnology for pharmaceutical production.The ‘implementation COP’: why the Belém summit must ratchet up climate action

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Qiushi Chair Professor; Qiushi Distinguished Scholar; ZJU 100 Young Researcher; Distinguished researcher
No. 3, Qingchun East Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang (CN)
Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital Affiliated with Zhejiang University School of Medicine More

In 1961, conservationist Peter Scott warned that the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) could be extinct in 30 years. His prediction nearly came true: in Kenya, numbers fell from about 20,000 in the 1970s to fewer than 400 by 1989. At the start of this year, Kenya’s eastern black rhino (D. b. michaeli) population had surpassed 1,000. The strategy behind this recovery holds lessons for conservation efforts.
Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests. More

This week, as world leaders gather in Belém, Brazil, for the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), once again it seems that there will be more rhetoric than real solutions for the countries that are most vulnerable to the effects of a changing climate.My native Belize — with its tropical rainforests, coastal wetlands and coral reefs — is one such country. Warming seas are killing our reefs. Hurricanes and wildfires are increasing in frequency and intensity.‘Almost utopian’: how protecting the environment is boosting the economy in BrazilAs a biologist with two decades of experience in academia and conservation, I have learnt that, to protect natural resources, local communities must bey empowered to steward these efforts — and that women are often best placed to drive them, at least in Latin America and the Caribbean, but probably everywhere.In many cultures, women are the de facto main carers and custodians of community knowledge. They are often in positions, paid or otherwise, to make their communities healthier, more prosperous and more peaceful — making them well-suited to lead climate action and conservation work.I am the managing director of the Belize Maya Forest Trust, a non-profit organization dedicated to conserving nearly 1,000 square kilometres of the country’s tropical forest. I also chair the board of directors of the Belize Network of NGOs, an umbrella organization for many of the more than 100 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country. In Belize, many prominent conservation organizations are led by women. Take the Community Baboon Sanctuary, a globally recognized conservation effort that protects the habitat of the Yucatán black-howler monkey (Alouatta pigra). Today, the sanctuary is managed by the Community Baboon Sanctuary Women’s Conservation Group, which is directed by women from seven Belizean villages.And over the past five years, working with the government of Belize and The Nature Conservancy, a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, women in Belize have had key roles in the execution of game-changing sustainable-financing initiatives. One is Belize’s first large-scale project to reduce emissions by avoiding deforestation, which is helping to protect the Belize Maya Forest, an area that includes some of the world’s most biodiversity-rich lands. Another is Belize Blue Bonds — which, when the deal closed in November 2021, was the world’s largest debt-refinancing scheme for ocean conservation.The more I participate in advocacy and interact with civil-society organizations — both in Belize and internationally — the more I find myself in rooms full of women striving to protect the environment and defend human rights.But I have also noticed that women are not usually negotiating for funds, deciding whether to launch large initiatives or setting national priorities.Is it time to give up trying to save coral reefs? My research says noBelize is again a case in point. In any of the ten elections since Belize gained independence in 1981, at most four women have been elected to the 28–31-member House of Representatives, the most powerful arm of the country’s legislature. Other female parliamentarians have been appointed by the prime minister, but these positions tend to have much less authority than do those elected through popular vote. Also, female ministers are usually put in charge of human or rural-development issues, rather than the country’s economy, land, infrastructure or defence.For countries to build resilience and protect their biodiversity in the time needed, more women must be made equal partners in decision making.

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“The first time I saw a chamois, a mammal closely related to both goats and antelopes, was more than 40 years ago while I was hiking in Epirus, a mountainous region in western Greece. Chamois were rare then; the desire to learn about and protect them inspired me to become a biologist. Over the past 25 years, their population in my study area — the Northern Pindos National Park — has grown drastically, mainly thanks to a ‘human shield’ effect created by hikers visiting the upper parts of the Northern Pindos mountain range: their presence has made poaching more difficult.Now, I can easily see dozens of Balkan chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica) just a few hours from my village. In this picture, I’m counting them on the ledges of a cliff, one of their favourite habitats. We think that there are now around 1,000 individuals in the national park and nearby mountain ranges.Studying chamois requires the skills of a mountaineer and a scientist’s precision. My colleagues and I have built a habitat suitability model, based on elevation, vegetation, slope and human activity, and are testing it by checking for chamois presence in areas across northern and central Greece. We have discovered small populations in those areas and are in the process of defining wildlife corridors and identifying threats to those populations.

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